But most of the consequences of those events are related to how well the support systems addressed the AFTER EFFECTS or failures of man-made structures brought about by the event. E.g., had NOLA been ABOVE sea level, most of the fatalities there would not have occurred. The storm, itself, didn't kill those people; the failure of levees meant to keep the sea water out of the low-lying wards did!
How often do you see *bodies* littering the area of a storm/disaster?
Last year, ~30 people died as a direct result of tornados. Despite all the *power* that they unleashed! 1000 times more people died in the same period due to automobile accidents -- almost the same number as lost their lives to guns! Bundle up the energy expended in all of those car crashes (or gunshots) and compare it to the energy in *one* tornado...
What you *see* in the media is the devastation that these events leave behind. And, *imagine* that the "human cost" must have been tremendous! It is -- but in the *aftermath*, not the event itself!